2011 Illinois Conservation Order Season Report

Harvest of light geese (Chen caerulescens, Chen rossii)during the 2011 Illinois Conservation Order season was estimated at 66,406, which is similar to the 2010 harvest of 65,987 geese.Participation increased 3% to 3,825 hunters, a small increasecompared to 3,702 hunters during 2010. Hunters spent an estimated 30,753 days afield during 2011, an increase of 5,172 days (20%)from2010. The majority (73%)of the snow goose harvest occurred during the month of February. Electronic calls were used most often (63%); however,unplugged shotguns were used by 58% of hunters. Hunters who did not participate in the Conservation Order season reported “no place to hunt snow geese,”“did not have the proper equipment,”and “no snow geese in my area” as the primary reasons they did not hunt snow geese.